@Mary-Ann0 For starters, I think some of the comments you've received from other hosts are a tad harsh. Especially being told to calm down. That's a passive-aggressive response if ever there was one and, in the future, just ignore responses like it. Those are just fighting words for those trying to relieve themselves of the strain of a bad day, week or month, and they are doing so by randomly flaming another person.
Your review was fair. I understand, also, why you went into detail. Clearly these guests had both pluses and minuses and you detailed both in order to be balanced. I certainly get that. I wrote a similarly detailed review/description for a difficult time I had with a repeat guest who had been wonderful on his first visit, but then left others in charge on his second. The people he left in charge made and left a big mess. Since the repeat guest had done the booking, and I would not want to inflict his friends on a fellow host, I stated both his positive and negative attributes, focussing on how his leaving others in charge was a bit irresponsible. (He's also ignored my messages to him in the aftermath.) My review sounded a lot like yours and I have no regrets for having written it.
The difference for me was that I simply ignored his feedback. I reckoned it would be defensive and possibly nasty, so I simply deleted the notification and did not go to read it. My dealings with him were finished and the only thing I would get from reading his response would be grief. You may want to do that in the future.
These guests sound like the sort who did a bare minimum of cleaning throughout their month-long stay and then did a hasty job at the end so that they could say they did something. The fact is that paying only $45 a night probably gave them the impression that your place wasn't worth much (sorry, but that's their perspective I'm pointing out here, not mine).
I have both a budget and an upmarket Airbnb place (the upmarket one is mine; the budget one is one I run for a relative). The budget one is definitely more problematic. There's more pilfering, more broken plates and furniture; more garbage and mess left behind. It's priced at roughly $45-90 a night depending on the season and I can tell you that as soon as my one year contract (I made the deal with my relative) is up, I'm not going to do it any more.
The difference between the two places has shown me that running a lower end place--especially one not catering to outdoorsy types or campers--is a huge headache. The place is self-contained, btw, not a room in a house or apartment, so keeping an eye on things is far more difficult. I've written negative reviews for about 6 out of 10 guests lately, although the reviews are brief and to the point, i.e., "did minor damage and left garbage behind," or "left the curtain out of the tub for showers, soaking the floor repeatedly."
I don't know if it's possible for you to do this, but could you do some upgrades and charge more? The neighbourhood and location would be a factor here in your decision. If that's not an option--there's no point doing an upgrade for a modest neighbourhood, for example--I would also consider not doing month-long stays and charging more for the shorter terms ones. I no longer accept stays over 15 days and I am always booked. Or conversely, if you do want to do month-longs, then add the stipulation that a weekly cleaning charge will be included and that you will be sending in a cleaner, which they must agree with. If they argue and say they'll clean it themselves, don't negotiate. It's a cleaner or they're not going to get their booking. Just specify that for "reasons of hygiene" they must agree. No one wants to sound un-hygienic.
Try not to lose heart with the negative responses your post and review evoked here on this forum. I posted, on a different host forum, about a difficult Airbnb stay I had in Europe where the host was terribly disorganized. The place was beautiful and because it was my birthday I allowed myself a high-end rental. But the kitchen had very little in it--as in plates and cutlery--and the hot water and wifi kept cutting out. After a couple of the days, the host started treating me like I was the problem. For about $150 a night, I was not impressed.
When I went to the foum to ask for advice about how to write a tough review for a fellow host, I was repeatedly flamed by hosts who got defensive--it got so bad that I eventually quit the forum. I understand that we as hosts can get defensive, but I challenge anyone to take cold showers for a week and deal with an intermittent wifi connection too, especially when roaming costs for a cell are prohibitive. With an elderly and ill parent in a nursing home, it was important for me to be in touch with my family.
Try not to take anything posted here personally. It takes all sorts to make up a forum and of course anything critical is going to push someone else's buttons. Personally, I think you did the right thing and you have nothing to feel bad about. Just don't read responses to bad reviews in the future. In my opinion, it's just not worth the grief.
